Motor control



J. F. TRITLE.

MOTOR CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3. 191a.

Patented June 28, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Inventor:

John F. Tritlc e,

His Attorney.

J. F. TRITLE.

MOTOR CUNTROL.

APPLICATION FlLiD OCT. 3. 1919.

Patented June 28, 1921.

Z SHKETS-SHEET 2.

Invent/or- I John F. Tr-itle, y Jfi vw g M His Attorney.

UNITE-D. S TE? JOHN F. TRITL or 11 l l t t /F twa: 1 t .Ii'; "Be' it known that 1'; JOHN F. "Im'rns,''a citizen of the-United States,"residin at n y, cqa'ty'is' z shenset b t of New York, have invented certain new'and useful lmprovementsliiiiliotorziQontrol, of which tlie ifollotri'ng is a specificationl" i This in rent i o n" relates to the c ont roljojf cites-1e motors an has as its object the I pro'vision 'of improved 'mefans wherebjeleotrio "motors are started, stopped,=and"';"gen erally'controlled in a simple, reliab ejjitnd efiicientmannerl l ,Tjlf'fijf W hile' my inventioniseapable ofigeneral application iii th' motorjjcontrol fieldiit of particular importance in th'e' eo'ntrol of electric railway motors; I ff In my-fornier Patent No. 1,3 '1(l,040 dated July 15. 1919, I have shown a controlsystem for electric motors in Whieh'a plurality of unit" switches are forced to close against; a spring tension by which j tum'rare operated by electropnelimatic means under the control of a master controller. ason comprises', oertain improvements relating to the'operating ineans, particularly as regards the arrangement for operating the unit switches; and has for it s-object the provision of improved means whereby the mechanism will start quickly from one point to the next, without materially affecting the time taken in stopping the mechanism at the definite control points or the total time for advancing from the off position to the full running position or from the running position to the 0H position. In one of its aspects my invention relates to elcctro-pneumatic operation and it provides improved means whereby a greater speed of operation between the definite steps in the control is obtained. In order to satisfactorily stop the controller on the definite control points, the speed of the electro-pneumatic operating meuns must he reduced. In my former patent referred to. an on cylinder and an oil cylinder are provided and electromagnetic valves are provided for controlling the ailpressure in the cylinders to effect movemcnls of the controller as desired, and, in certain of its aspects, my invention relates to improvements in the electroneumatic operating means therein shown. .n' the arrangement of the patent, a relatively small exhanst, port for the off magnet valvemust "TFATE NT OFFICE.

SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC oomrm, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

moron CONTROL.

specifiwfidn L Patented June 28, 1921. lgA i il icatioxi med cated 5.191s. gain 328,286.

providedin order .that the'controller will satisfactorily .at the definite control po nts andbecause of that limitation the it b lfll'lg offafeontrol step was not quickly .begun. .j My invention provides means for HIQGFQSERL" the speed at starting by the pro- ;vls o'n of amadditional larger exhaust port fv'vhlch is norma'lly openlwhenever the main controller is on one ,of the A definite control points, and. i s"closed as soon as the con- 'trollerlstaiftsf to ,move tov another point. A qu1ck red1 icti onin air pressurewill be obta ned in the off cylinder. start the controller from the points without materially ifectmg the stopping andthe total time of turn" on andofl. I f. v I In t e' a ;coomp anying drawingsillustrat .rng my'rnventioii; Figure 1 is a diagram of complete motor control system embodying n 1y lmproyements Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the e1et:ti'o;p'iieumatic. means for operatngithe unitQsivitches'andFigB is anenlarged part section'of an exhaust valve.

I shall first describe a system of control emliodynigmy"improvements and shall then 'polnt outmo're in detail the specific features v Looking first at Fig. 1, it will be noted that I, haveshopvn'ia series-parallel system of motor control in'iwhich two motors are employed. It will be understood however, that my invention is in no sense limited to the particular system employed or to the number of motors controlled. The armatures of the two motors are designated A and A. while the fields which are subdivided as hereinafter described are designated F.

and F. RS designates the reversing switch as a whole. MC indicates the master controller, and LB and LB represent the two line breakers. B represents a potential relay which is dei nergized so as to return the controller to the of? position upon the failure of power. (3R represents an overload relay. T) represents a current limit relay or throttle, for causing the advance of the main controller to be under the control of the motor current and E represents a battery for energizing the control circuit.

The main controller, which Ihave designated L1, as shown! in 1, consists of a number of cams arranged upon a shaft so as to close the contactors in a predetermined order. Forming a part of the controller and rotated with the cam shaft are two Sets of contacts G and H, the purpose of which will he hereinafter described.

The main controller comprises a number of unit switches, one of which is shownat K (Fig. 14), electropneumatically.' Each switch consists of an insulating base upon which is mounted a stationary contactll, havihga magnetic blowout 12, adjacent thereto, and a contact arm 13 pivoted at 14 and having a contact 15 at its end, eoiiperating with the stationary contact. The contact arm 13 is normally held in open position by sprino' 16 as shown in the drawing and is closed by engagement with one of the cam surfaces 17 with a roller 18 on the arm. As before stated, the cams, one of which is shown at 17, are arran ed around a shaft 19 and 1011- gitudinally thereof, as shown in Fig, 1. The cam surfaces have the proper lengths, as indicated in Fig. 1, to maintain the switches closed for a proper interval. The

cam shaft '19 is rotated thro ugh the pinion 20 by means of arack 21'havin a piston at each end. These pistons 22 and 23 operate in cylinders 24 and 25 respectively, to which compressed air is admitted through the ports 26 and 27 respectively. The port 26 is normally closed to reservoir ando en to atmosphere by the electromagnetical y opera'ted "alve 2S and isopened by the energization of the magnetizing winding'oij the valve, while the port 27 is controlled by-the normally open electromagnetically operated valve 29. This latter valve is closed when the magnetizing winding is energized. The valve 28, which as above stated is normally closed, connects the cylinder-to atmosphere when the winding is deenergized but when the winding is energized, connects .the' port 26 with the air reservoir so as to admit compressed air to the cylinder 24 so as to move the piston 22 to the left. The valve 2-9 which is normally open controls the passage from the reservoir to the cylinder so that in the normal position of the valve, with the magnetizing winding deiinergized, there will he full reservoir pressure in the cylinder 25. lVhen, therefore, the magnetizing winding of the valve 28 is energized, com ressed air will be admitted to cylinder 24 or moving piston 22 to the left, this being the movement which turns the cam shaft in the on direction, that is. to operate the .proper switches to bring the motors up to speed. This movement will not take place however (except as to the first step as hereinafter described), unless the pressure is exhausted from the cylinder 25 by the operation of the valve 29 which closes the connection between the cylinder and the reservoir, and opens the connection between the cylinder and atmosphere. When, however, the valve 29 is opened hr the deiinergization of its which switches are operated I vgized, there ,will be no movement rack.

. the two pistons 22 and 23 will be balanced.

Therefore when the magnetizing winding of the valve 28 is energized, and the magnetizing winding of the valve 29 is deenerof the cam shaft (except on the first step). Moreover, if while thevalve 28 is open and the cam shaft is being moved to the on position by the piston 22, the valve 29 should be closed, the movement of this "camshaft will be im- "m'ediatel stopped.

' It wil be noted that while the piston 22 fixedly oonnected to the rack 21, the is {ton-23 is Hot so connected with the rack ut is y'ieldingly mouiited with respect to the V The piston 23 has attached to it a sleeve 30 which fits over the hollowed end o 7th; rack 21, and a sprine 31 fits into the hollowed end 'of the frac and presses against'the;iiineiflside of'the piston. This arrangement'permitsinovement of the rack left so as to compress the spring 31 'i'rhile the piston"23fremains stationary. In hther words', when working pressure is applied'to the piston 22, while there is work in pressure on the piston 23, the piston 22 e311 movefo'rward until the spring 31 is 'fullyfcpmpressed. This movement causes thecam shaft to move one step to close the inptor circiiihas will hereinafter appear.

(In the'top of the cylinder casing is the reverse switch comprising a drum P and means for operating the same. The drum is operated pneumatically by means of a double acting piston 32 connectedwith the cylinder by arm 33; The movement to make the fforward, connections for the motors is controlled by electromagnetic. valve f, while the movement in the direction to connect the motors for reverse operation is controlled by electromagnetic valve 1'. The construction of this reversing switch forms no part of my invention and need not. there- H0 fore he described in further detail. The valves and r are of substantially the same character as the valves 29 and 29 and in fact inav he of any well known design.

The exhaust port for the oil magnet. valve 29 has connected thereto a pipe 55 leading to the valve 56 having an exhaust opening 57 which is of such an area that the speed of the olectro-pneumatir motor will be properly decreased preparatory to stopping at the ma definite control points. A piston 58, operated by means of the pawl 59 having a roller 60 at its end which rolls on the cam surface of the star wheel 61, is provided for opening an additional normally closed exhaust port 62 when the contr ller reaches one of its definite control points. The large exhaust port 62 thereby supplements the exhaust port 57 and exhausts the air from chamber 25 quickly preparatory to starting to the next iii) This makes a circuit in parallel with the circuit through the throttle contacts. this parallel circuit being through contacts 3S and 44 on the potential relay B and overload relay OR respectively. The throttle may therefore open, but the movement of the cam shaft will not be interrupted until the circuit is interrupted at contact H and established on the second contact G, which it tle will prevent "further moiem'ent oftlie controller until the current drops to proper value, whereupon another step will be taken by the cam shaft which will short circuit'the resistance R. ll hen the cam shaft moves to the next step (0 on the main controller) in which the fields of the motors are tapped to give increased speed, the progression will stop, by reason of the fact that one of the contacts G, marked 52, is ollset from=the others so as to interrupt the circuit of the off naagnet through both sets of contacts G and H. I1i orderfto progress further. it is necessary for the master controller to be moved to position 6 in which the oil magnet is energized through the contacts 53. on the master controller, and the contact 52 which engages with contact. finger 54-. The movement of the master controller to the position a, thereforecauses the cam shaft to take one step (to position 17'} which changes the motor connections from full series with tapped or weakened i'ield. which is the highest speed position in series. to the parallel position. \Vhen this position is reached. the progression is stopped by reason of the fact that the contact 5-ipasses over the contact 52. In' order to progress further; it is necessary that the master controller be moved to the position (I. in which the of? magnet will be again energized in the regular way and the cam shaft moved forward step by step in the manner above described under the control of the throttle, until the. full parallel position is reached. The main controllcr will be returned to the 05 position at any time by the deiinerg'ization of the on magnetcontrolling the electromagnetic valve 28. This will exhaust the cylinder 24 to atmosphere so that the pressure in cylinder 25 will more the rack 21 to the right and hence turn the controller back to off position. This deenergization of the on magnet to turn the controller will be accomplished by the dci ncrgization of the potential relay ll. 'lt for instance,

"the power should fail. even for an instant,

the potential relay a ill drop thereby del nergizing the on magnet at the contact 38 of the relay; -It'will'b'e noted that'this potential relay is energized 'througlrtlie contact 36 i'n'thekitl position of the main cont-roller, but that as soon as the controller moves from oil position a holdin circuit is'made throug'h'a 'resistancer". f theretore, the otential relay should open, it can only be c o'sedif themain outroller isin the off? position." The reverser-BS is also interlocked with the main controller at contact 40 so clinche -valve magnets-fiend 'r can only be energized in the oli f position :of the controller. The opening of the 'tentia-l relay causes'the opening of the line breaker LB which in turn causes the'openmg of the'line breaker LB" and mus s 'an- 'other' break in the circiiit-of the on magnot so that the controller will be returned controller is in position?) andthe main 'con- 'troller is advancing to make the various connections-in series. progression may be stopped hy -bringing the master controller hack to the position'rn Likewise if'the master controller is in position (2 the automatic progression may 'be'stopped by moving the master controllerback to the position a.

When the master controller is moved to the oil position, the fo'n 'magnetwill be deenergized and the main controller returned to off position. Upon the occurrence of an overload, the overload relay OR will cause the motor circuit to be opened at the line breakers and stop the motors; This overload relay is of the reset type. that is. when it opens it is latched open. The line breakers cannot be closed until the overload relay is reset and then can only be closed by moving the switch 34 on to its right-hand contact which willcnergrize the magnet 55 to release the latchiand allow the relay to close the operating circuits of the line breakers.

lVhile I have descrilmd my invention as embodied in concrete form and as operating in a. specific manner in accordance with the provisions of the patent'statutes, it should be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto. since various modifications thereof will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention. the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

This makes a. circuit in parallel with the circuit through the throttle contacts. this parallel cirruit being through contacts 38 and. 44 on the potential relay B and overload relay OR respectively. The throttle may therefore open, but the movement of the cam shaft will not he iliterrupted until the circuit is interrupted at contact H and established on the second contact G, which it will be'observed, will be when the controller has completed a step to position b. If, therefore, the current has not dro need to the proper value when the cam sha has completed its step, it cannot take another step until the current does drop so as to energive the off magnet through'the throttle contacts. When the current does drop to h proper value, the ofi'- 'magnet will again be energized to cause the cam shaft to take another step which short circuits the resistance B through cam 50. Again the throttle will prevent further movement of "the controller until the current drops to proper value, whereupon another step will be taken by the cam shaft which will short cirruit'the resistance R. hen the cam shaft moves to the next step (c' on the main controller) in which the fields of the motors are tapped to give increased speed, the progression will stop, by reason of the fact that one of the contacts G, marked 52, is offset from-the others so as to interrupt the circuit of the 011' magnet through both sets of contacts G and H; In orderfto pro n'ess further. it is necessary for the master controller to be moved to position 0 in which the off magnet is energized through the contacts 53,011 the master controller, and the contact 52 which engages with contact finger 54. The movement of the master controller to the position 0, therefore, causes the cam shaft to take one step (to position (7) which changes the motor connections from full series with tapped or weakened iield. which is the highest speed position in series. to the parallel position. hen this position is reached the progression is stopped hy reason of the fact that the contact 5- passes over the contact 52. In order to progress furthen it is necessary that the master controller be moved to the position (L in which the off magnet will he again energized in the regular way and the cam shafi: moved forward step by step in the manner above described under the control of the throttle. until the full parallel position is reached. The main controller will he returned to the off position at any time by the deenergization of the on magnetcontrolling the electromagnetic valve 28. This will exhaust the cylinder 24 to atmosphere so that the pressure in cylinder 25 will more the rack 21 to the right and hence turn the controller back to off position.- This deiinergization of the on magnet to turn the controller will be accomplished by the dei ncrgization of the potential relay 1 if for instance,

the power should fail. oven for an instant,

fore, the otential relay should open, it "can only be c osed if the'maifi'eontroller isin the off position. The rever'sor-RS is also interlocked wlththe main controlle'r'at con- --tact 40 so phoebe-valve fimgnets f and- 'r can only be energized in the offY position ;-of the controller. The opening of the 'ten'tia-l relay causes theopening of the line hrea-ker LB which in turn causes theo'penmg 'of the'line breaker LB and ca'ilsesanother break in the eir'cuitof the -on mag inet so that the coi'itrdller'will be'return'ed to 61$ position? It 1on1 he understood; of

cohrse, hat at any-tiine when the controller isadvaucmg automaticillly 'under the control of the'throttle, progression "maybe stopped by-movi'ngib'ack one step on the master controller, which will dei nergize the off magnet andbala nce-the pressurein'the two cylinders. For instancqif'th'e master controller is in position 'b arid-the maincon} 'troller is advancing to make the various connections-infseries. progression may be stopped hy-bringing the inastercontroller hack to the position'a; Likewise ifthe -master controller is in position I? the automatic progression may be'stopped by moving the roaster controller back to the position 0. When the master controller is moved to the off pi'is'ition the on magnet will be deenergized and the main controller returned to off position. Upon the occurrence of" an overload, the overload relay OR will cause the motor circuit to he opened at the 'line breakers and stop the motors; This overload relay isof the reset type. that is. when it opens is latched open. The line breakers cannot be closed until the overload relay is reset and then can only be closed by moving the switch 34 on to its right-hand contact which willenergize the magnet 55 to release the latch and allow the relay to close the operating circuits of the line breaklVhat Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the United States, is,-

1. Electric motor controlling means, com-' and'mcans operated responsively to the more ment'of the controller for operating the said valve'mechanism to cause the fluid motor to take :rquiclt-starthnd for effect-inga iexiuction' in the speed of the same preparatory to stopping.

2. Electric motor-controlling means, comprising a controller 'for the motor circuit, a fluid motor for'operating the controller step by la Yt1 6T ech msm=-for* controllin the 'flui motor, and means operated responsively to the movement of the controller for controlling the valve mechanism to vary the speed of the operating means between the control steps.

Electric motor controlling means, com prising a controller for the motor circuit, a fluid motor for operating the controller step by step, valve mechanism for controlling the fiuid motor, and means operated respon:

sively to the movement of .the controller for automatically operating the said valve mechanism to reduce the speed of the fluid motor preparatory to stopping the controller at a control point. l

4. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic operating means for advancing the controller step by step, valve mechanism for controlling the operating means, and means for automatically operating the valve mechanism to cause the pneumatic operating means to make a quick start at the beginning of a control step and to cause the speed of the operatio means to be automatically gradually reduced before the control step is completed.

5. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic o eratin means therefor having a piston an cylin or for each direction of movement, valves for controlling the air pressure in the cylinders, means for operating the valves to cause air under pressure to be admitted to the on cylinder and exhausted from the cit cylinder, and means for automatically increasing the effective area of the exhaust port for the off cylinder at the start of each step so that a quick start for taking the control step may be had.

6. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic operatin means therefor having a piston and cylinder for each direction 0 movement, valves. for controlling the air IIBSSHIB in the cylinders, means for operat mg the valves to cause air under pressure to be admitted to the on cylinder, and exhausted from the oil cylinder so that the taking of a control step will be started, and means for automatically reducing the effeclive area of the exhaust port for the ofi cylinder after thecontroller has started to take a step-so that the speed of the controller will he reduced preparatory to stopping at a control point.

7. Electric motor controlling means, com

prising a controller for the'motor circuit, pneumaticoperating means therefor having a piston and cylinder for each direction of movement, valves for=-controlling theair pressure-1n the cyl1nders', means for operatmg the valves to cause air under pressure to be' a'dmitted to the on cylinder and exhausted from the off cylinder, andmeans for 1 automatically l quickly reducing the air pressure in the off cylinder at the start of each step so that a quick start may be had, and for automatically increasing the resistance ofi'ered to the exhaust of the air from the oil cylinder for the remainder of the step so that the speed of the controller will be reduced preparatory to stopping at the control point.

8. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic operating means therefor having a piston and cylinder for each direction of movement, valves for controlling the air pressure in the cylinders, means for operating the valves to cause air under pressure to be admitted to the on cylinder and exhausted from the off cylinder to move the controller from one definite control point to another, and means operated responsively to the pressure of air in the exhaust passages of the off cylinder for increasing the effective area of the exhaust port for the off cylinder when the controller is on one of its definite control points.

9. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic operating means therefor having a piston and cylinder for each direction of movement, valves for controlling the air pressure in the cylinders, means for operating the valves to cause the air under pressure to he admitted to the on cylinder and exhausted from the off cylinder to move the controller from one definite control point to another, -and means for automatically opening an additional exhaust port when the controller has reached the next definite control point and the air pressure in the exhaust passages has dropped to a predetermined value.

10. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic operating means therefor having a piston. and cylinder for each direction of movement, valves for controlling the air pressure in. the cylinders, means for operatin the valves to cause air under pressure to e admitted to the on cylinder and exhausted from the oil cylinder to move the controller from one definite control point to another, and means operated responsively to the movement of the controller and to the pressure of air in the exhaust passages of the OE cylinder for increasing the efiective area of the exhaust port for the OH cylinder when the controller is on one of its definite control points.

11. Electric motor controlling means, comprising a controller for the motor circuit, pneumatic operating means therefor comprising a piston and cylinder for each direction of movement, a valve norinallv open to atmosphere and closed tothe source of air under pressure for controlling the on cylinder, a valve normally open to the source of air under pressure and. closed to atmosphere for controlling the oil" cylinder, means for operating the said valves to admit air to the on cylinder and exhaust air from the 01? cylinder, and means operated responsively to the movement of the controller for opening an additional exhaust port for the oil cylinder after each control step has been taken and for closing said additional exhaust port after the controller has started to take a step, whereby a quick start in taking the control step is had and the speed of the controller is reduced preparatory at the next control point.

In witness whereof, I. have hereunto set my hand this27th day of Se teinber 1919.

JOH N F. ThiTLE.

to stopping 

